Inside Job: Retailers Leverage Brand Recognition and Value With Store-Within-a-Store Concepts

The store-within-a-store format isn’t anything new in the grocery business. In-store Starbucks, Subways and other chain collaborations have been around for years, as have in-store bank branches.

What is changing, though, is the style and type of store-within-a-store concepts, including those that deliver foodservice-style products and solutions to customers. Take Starbucks, for example. The chain continues to expand its Signature Aisles kiosks at grocery stores, which lend an engaging Starbucks experience in a grocery setting, with design features like pendant lights, a tile backsplash and a counter that looks like one found in a Starbucks store.

Some mini stores signal a store’s commitment to specialty foods and authenticity. Earlier in 2017 and after several years of offering its products in an in-store cheese boutique, Kroger acquired Murray’s Cheese, a New York-based chain of specialty cheese and meat shops. The move allows Kroger to expand the Murray’s cheese profile in its stores.

Newer entries in the store-within-a-store concept reflect what today’s customers are seeking in foods and shopping experiences. In an era in which authenticity, flavor and convenience collide, St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets Inc. recently announced the addition of a prototype store-within-a-store at its Des Peres, Mo., location, which offers freshly sliced artisan cured meats by Volpi Foods.

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“We are excited to partner with the leading grocery retailer in the St. Louis market. The partnership between Schnucks and Volpi is the highlight of a relationship that spans a combined 200-plus years of servicing the Midwest market,” says Tim Urban, chief commercial officer for Volpi Foods.

Another type of store-within-a-store concept is a seasonal or temporary pop-up store, a concept that has taken off in other grocery settings, from big-box stores to shopping malls. According to industry consulting firm PopUp Republic, the pop-up industry has grown to nearly $10 billion in sales.

To that end, as the synergy and collaboration within and beyond the retail industry continues, some pop-up stores are a way to drive business for both partners. After its acquisition of Whole Foods, for example, Amazon has announced it is opening stores inside Whole Foods stores, including pop-up stores that will offer a variety of gifts for this holiday shopping season, such as the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Fire TV, Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets.